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Corthax Outskirts
Areas around Corthax that are interesting: Bay of Fuldine The Bay of Fuldine (known as just “'the Bay'”) is a protected cove of water approximately 1 mile square. Most of the Bay is shallow and silted, with long reed grasses filling large stretches of it. A regularly-maintained channel is the only way larger ships are able to approach the city, and the shifting underwater dunes make for regular conversation among ships’ captains and navigators in the saloons of the Blue Quarter. That shipping channel get dredged on a yearly basis, with barges slowly drawn along, with armies of slaves and low-paid peasants doing their best to dig up the muck. The lands climbing from the water shift from rocky cliffs out along the Shoulders, down to a mix of sandy beach and built-out docklands within the city extent. Near the entrance to the Bay, the cliffs give way to rocky spires and shoals and quickly deepening water. Only very small vessels can carefully maneuver the difficult currents to moor along the cliffs’ edges, but unloading anything there is nearly pointless as there’s nowhere to go but up! In the past these places have occasionally seen use by smugglers, but not often. Headlands Known colloquially as the Shoulders, the Bay of Fuldine is marked by rocky promontories to the east and west of Corthax. Each rises to near 200 ft above the water, and small blockhouses guard the Bay. The Westwatch includes a number of small structures surrounding the blockhouse, which itself includes a narrow tower with both observation post and signal fire structure. On the opposite side, the Blackhouse serves two functions, both as a smaller lookout post (including a similar fire tower for signalling), and a small prison structure built into the side of the cliff, where men guilty of particular crimes are left to die. City Outskirts The Sands To the north of the city, verdant lands quickly give way to rocky, dusty badlands (ala Arizona) and then quickly to sandy wastes of the Alabaster Desert. The Desert becomes a barrier like a wall for the majority of Corthaxans - there's no point in going out there, so no one does. However, there is life there. Small tribes of horse and camel breeders wander down to Corthax on occasion, some regularly delivering animals for trade. Corthax itself has limited use for such animals, but on such regular occasions the docks of the Blue Quarter are filled with hundreds of merchant vessels from far off lands, each dealing with the traders for their animals (the city claiming a significant tax on the trades, of course). The city of Anbar was long ago the most important local trading partner for Corthax, but that city has long since disappeared from the map and the conscious minds of Corthaxans. Beyond Corthax What should we say about the rest of the region? West lies the Grey Lords, impenetrable even if anyone really cared to. It marks a mental block for the people of Corthax - “nothing” exists farther to the West. Armea lies to the south. Baronies of Ith are down there. A few other nations to the southwest, along the shoreline beyond the point where the Grey Lords crash into the sea. To the East... Shellerdon was one name thrown about, but nothing’s been written about that but the name.